This weekend was one of those where circumstances meant I wasn’t really feeling it. I woke up, looked outside, then decided I just didn’t want to do anything. I didn’t want to go into the city, I didn’t fancy going to Margate, I didn’t really want to go anywhere. All I had the energy for was going to the shops to buy some food then lounge around the house the rest of the day. Nothing wrong with that. It’s not necessary to always be doing something. There’s nothing wrong with just relaxing and recuperating, especially when work is a bit intense thanks to the ever changing situation in Higher Education…

Sunday I felt largely the same. I looked outside and couldn’t get together the energy. On top of that, our youngest was feeling a bit downbeat and just wanted to sit around and watch TV. So I stayed home while my wife and the eldest went to church and do some shopping (I don’t go to church on account of being a committed atheist). Time was cracking on though, and I needed to get out. So to raise the spirits of our daughter, I took her out to Waitrose to look at the Easter eggs and see what she fancied. Amazing how much her frown in the morning disappeared as she looked at all the eggs on the shelves, excitedly telling me which one would be her absolute favourite, before I treated her to a bag of mini creme eggs (her favourite). Of course, I spent ages trying to decide what I wanted, before deciding to go for the chocolate hot cross buns (incredible toasted) and some Tony’s mini eggs. We both went home happy.

With spirits lifted, once I was able to head out I got in the car and drove into the centre for lunch armed with my camera and the 18mm. No camera bag. No additional lenses. Just two fully charged batteries and the lens on my XT3. I didn’t expect to get too much, but the light was pretty good and the shadows gave me something to work with too. The conditions were good and my mood was right, so maybe this time…

It’s bad when you feel like you’re bored of Canterbury. I think the problem is I’ve walked the streets so much these last twenty years (since I moved to the city from Dover), it’s hard to spot new compositions. They’re always there, of course, it’s just sometimes difficult to spot them. Familiarity tires the mind I guess. In many ways this isn’t surprising. Despite it’s many photogenic spots, it is a small city and you can find yourself treading the same ground over and over. Sometimes you just long for fresh experiences. The difficulty is in finding them with a limited budget.

Nonetheless, sometimes that familiarity can be a blessing as well as a curse. You know where the light will fall best. You know where will be quiet, where will be busy. You know where to be at what time and what you can expect. When you’ve got two hours to spare in the city, that can really work in your favour. Crucially, of course, you know where the best places to stop off for a refreshment whilst you meander…

And so. Another day out with the 18mm, but this time some better results. Ok, not groundbreaking, portfolio images, but images that at least restore some confidence that you can work this lens in Canterbury and the first attempt was just one of those mediocre trips you get from time to time. Besides, it was never going to be the case that the trip out was going to bring down my whole day…I had chocolate hot cross buns to look forward to.

So my walkabout in Canterbury didn’t go that well. I got a few shots, but there certainly weren’t any that I would consider portfolio worthy. It’s fair to say I came away from the experience feeling like I hadn’t progressed at all with the 18mm. I was beginning to doubt whether this focal length was really for me. Perhaps I’m a 33mm and 50mm (or 50mm and 75mm in full frame) kind of guy. And then I went to Margate.

Initially I thought I’d struggle in Margate. The promenade and the beach really lend themselves to long focal lengths given the wide open space. Of course there are wide compositions, but I just find the amount of space lends itself to the 33mm or the 50mm. So I didn’t exactly go with high hopes, and certainly my experience the previous day didn’t give me a huge amount of encouragement. However, it turned out much better than expected.

As with Canterbury, I went with the intention of getting a wide range of shots, abstract, candid portrait, architecture, abstract…and I think I was largely successful in doing so (in the sense that I got a range of shots, rather than successful in the quality!). There were a few shots in particularly I was pleased with, but just being able to properly explore the potential of the focal length in a way that I really hadn’t successfully done in Canterbury was a real plus. Whereas I came back doubting I would ever get to grips with this focal length, after Margate I felt much more enthusiastic about making greater use of it than I had done before. To the extent that as I went through the images, I had some difficulty in condensing them down to the ones I was happiest with whilst also demonstrating the range I felt I was able to achieve.

I was actually surprised how I was able to work more abstract compositions with the wide angle. Those types of compositions are something I’m constantly drawn to, and I found that the longer the focal length, the “easier” I’m able to make the compositions work. With a wide angle I felt that I would be drawing in too much additional detail, bringing in clutter that doesn’t need to be there. However, I found I was able to work the compositions, either by making use of shadows to create negative space, or finding ways to make the composition more interesting by bringing in some surrounding elements that add to the frame (eg the shot through the broken window panes below…I felt it would work with just a single pane of glass, but can also work with a couple just as well, indeed, probably helps elevate the composition a bit).

I suppose the other thing I should add is that I was really impressed with the quality of the images the lens managed to produce. I’m not one for obsessing over image quality (so long as an image is sharp I’m fairly unbothered about digging too much into the detail), but I felt the majority of the images came out looking great. Don’t expect me to do a full lens review though, I’ll let the images speak for themselves.

So, will I use the 18mm more when I’m out and about with my camera on the streets? Yeah, I think I will. In that sense at least, it was a worthwhile challenge. I’ll let you be the ultimate judge with the photos below.